•NEWLY-CROWNED World Boxing Union Women’s bantamweight Silver champion Catherine Phiri with Agriculture Deputy Minister Grayford Monde after she beat German opponent Pia Mazelanik at Government Complex in Lusaka last evening. Picture by CLEVER ZULU

By SHAMAOMA MUSONDA –
CATHERINE Phiri is the World Boxing Union (WBC) Women’s bantamweight Silver champion.
It took Catherine just three rounds to take her special place after battering her German opponent Pia Mazelanik in this lopsided fight to win the title which is the biggest boxing belt to ever come to Zambia.
Watched across the country on ZNBC television, Catherine sent the German boxer to the canvas four times in the second and third rounds.
And the referee Frederick Ghartey did not have to think twice about stopping the fight as Mazelanik spent a lot of time going to the canvas than challenging Catherine as she bled profusely from the nose.
After a cagey start to this bout which saw both boxers throw testing jabs and rarely landed a right in the first round, the tempo was all different in the second round as both boxers went for each other like gladiators.
But it was Catherine whose tactic worked better as she hit Mazelanik with a succession of one-two’s and jab-right combination to send the German down and take a mandatory eight count.
As Catherine readied to pounce again, the bell saved the German but the third round was one she will never want to remember as she touched the canvas inside 30 seconds and once back on her feet, the ruthless Zambian was back on her and again sent the German to the canvas but this time a bloodied nose brought pity and the referee dully called for a medical time out.
But once the bout resumed, there was no respite as she went down and it was over.
And Zimbabwe’s African welterweight champion Charles Manyuchi elegantly won the WBC International welterweight title after handing Ghanaian boxer Patrick Allotey the first defeat of his career in 31 fights and it came via an eighth round technical knockout (TKO) in this lope-sided bout.
The win was however without controversy as the Ghanaian protested after the referee Sylvia Mokaida stopped the fight after Allotey went down to the canvas without being hit or pushed and touched both gloves to the canvas as Manyuchi dominated the bout.
Allotey had in the fourth round been punished with a point’s deduction for constantly flouting the boxing rules ranging from holding, pushing to punching in the back of the head, the same punishment which was repeated to both boxers in the eighth round.